by CATT
Stepping in the tub I lay back letting the water cover my body. Shutting my eyes I relax trying not to think about anything. The water feels glorious I feel the tension leaving my body from the workout; I just put it through. I stayed there submerged in the water until it started to cool down. Sitting up I finally started washing my hair and body. When I was done I let the tub start to drain and stepped out and dried off. Realizing I hadn’t brought any clothes to the bathroom with me, I wrap my towel around my body before stepping into my bedroom. I almost screamed when I see Dominick sitting on my bed.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” I demand.
“I needed to see you.”
I held my hands at the top of the towel to make sure it doesn’t fall. “As you can see I’m not dressed so do you mind leaving and coming back later?” I see it again the look! As his eyes rake up and down my body. It almost makes me weak in the knees, I have to be strong he doesn’t care about me all he see is a woman in a towel, and it turns him on.
“You know for someone that says they look at me and feel nothing the look you are giving me now as well as the one you’re giving me now would say otherwise.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about” Dominick cleared his voice his eyes going everywhere but on my face.
“I wanted to tell you I was sorry I feel like I’m sending you mixed signals, and I don’t mean to. I…You…I mean God, I can’t even talk I think your right; I do need to come back later when you have clothes on.”
I stand there holding my towel in place watching as Dominick gets up from my bed runs his hands up and down his face, and I thought I heard him say, “SHIT” under his breath before he drops his hands to his side giving me one last look and says, “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have come here. I need to leave you alone you don’t deserve this; I've put you through enough.”
I started to stop him to ask him what he meant, but I stopped myself. He is right about one think he has put me through enough. My life has been turned upside down ever since he helped me save my earth family, and I had slept with him. I can’t allow him to do that to me again. He is going to have to deal with whatever he has going on himself. Over the months, I thought he was dead one thing happened to me; I grew up. He wasn’t the only one that changed.
I crawled in my bed and did as I do every night I wished Case would come home so I could talk to him tell him how sorry I am. Tell him he is my best friend and not being able to talk to him or see him is killing me. I will beg for his forgiveness. I need to know he doesn’t hate me. My eyes close and I picture Case and his beautiful blond hair and blue eyes the kindness that is always been on his face when he looks at me. Alternatively, the way he had looked at me until the last time I saw him. Ultimately, I fell asleep thinking about him.
CHAPTER 60
Four days later we are all eating breakfast when Harris looks at me and said something that took me by total surprise.
“I’ve been thinking about the hearing; I think the angels did try to take your powers, but something stopped them from being able to.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I’ve seen the council when they take powers from keepers, and as soon as they shut their eyes, they have always taken the keepers powers right then. With you on the other hand I watched, and they tried, and they tried some more, but they weren’t able to take your powers. You scared them so to cover their tracks. They played it off like they allowed you to keep your powers.”
“If what you’re saying is true why do you think they couldn’t take my powers? Have you ever seen the angels not be able to take powers before?”
“I’m not sure why they couldn’t take your powers and no; I've never seen the angels not be able to take a keepers powers. I don’t think they’ve ever had that happen either. I think now they’re afraid of you; they've always been leery of you and your powers but a few weeks ago you confirmed their fears.”
“Are you or Summer ever afraid of me or why I’m able to do all the things I can?”
“No honey, not in the least, the way I see it God blessed you with more of him than he did the rest of us. He had his reason for making you so special. I’m just honored he trusted your mother and I to be your parents. Lana you have great powers and with those powers comes a Great responsibility, and I know you can handle whatever it is that you were born to do.”
I was chocked up. Before I knew it I was up from the table and was hugging Harris. He hugs me back, when I let go of him, I stare him in the eyes and say, “Thanks Dad.”
He pulls me back into another hug. I thought my ribs would break if he didn’t let up soon. When I thought I may not be able to take my next breathe, he let me go and said, “Thank You, I’ve waited over nineteen years to hear that.”
Smiling at him I say “you’re welcome.”
With breakfast done I start getting ready to do the routine I have gotten into over the past few weeks. I went to the gym for my three-hour workout before going to shower and going outside to walk the grounds for a few hours. I thought today I would take a book and blanket, maybe even an apple and something to drink and go upon the hill with the dog wood tree I love so much and read for a while. I’ve gotten into these murder mysteries and just started a new one called he loves me; he loves me not. Reading my book up by my dog wood tree sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day.
Running up the stairs I changed into my workout clothes a sports bra and shorts grabbed a towel from my bathroom and headed to the gym. I see Dominick there as soon as I walk in, but I ignore him making my way to the free weights. I do some stretches before I start. After ten minutes of warming up, I started lifting weights with my ear buds in my ears and my music blasting I tune everything out except the pain my muscles are in. I welcome the pain. The pain is how I know the weights are working. After two hours of doing nothing but lifting weights, I go to the treadmill to finish up my last hour.
I see Dominick watching me but again, I choose to ignore him. I run my hour then slow the treadmill down to a slow walk to cool down. I see Dominick walking toward me, but I never look his way. He stands in front of the treadmill and hits the off-switch.
“Are you going to continue to act as if I’m not here?”
“I’m not acting like you’re not here. I’m working out.”
“Alright if you say so are you done now?”
“Yes Dominick I’m done. What do you want?”
“I was wondering if we could talk.”
“What do you want from me Dominick?”
“I don’t know I can’t explain it. I don’t want you to hate me for one thing?”
“Alright I don’t hate you. Are you happy now?”
“I’ve been back here almost a month now and …
“Dominick stop” I said and held up my hands. “You say that while you were gone what you went through changed you. Well, while you were gone what I went through changed me to. I’m no longer that girl. I’m sorry for whatever it is you’re going through. But I can’t help you. When I thought you, was dead I thought I was going to die. I hurt everybody that loved me. Then I found out you; were a live and I risked my life to save you. I dreamt the whole week before that I would save you, and we would make love and come back here and fight demons together and fall into bed every night holding one another. I was that stupid. But you will never get the chance to make a fool of me again. Whatever problem you have going on in that brain of yours you will have to work it out on your own. I can’t help you anymore. I can’t take you hurting me anymore.”
I left Dominick standing there staring at the spot where I had been standing. When I was in the hall, I blinked myself to my bedroom striped off my clothes and took a shower. Washing away the sweat from my hair and body, I thought about Dominick and what he may have been trying to tell me.
What if he had been going to tell me, he had been wrong that he did love me and couldn’t live without me? If he had to have this much time to think about his feelings for
me, then they weren’t real. After my shower, I dried my hair and put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved blue shirt and went to find Dominick. I couldn’t leave things the way they were. It wasn’t his fault his feelings for me had changed. We needed to put the past to rest and start over. I found him still in the gym sitting on one of the work benches.
He stood up when he saw me coming toward him.” I’m sorry Dominick for the way I acted.”
“It’s alright I deserved it. I’ve treated you horrible since I’ve been back.”
“You’ve been through a lot, and I should be more understanding, and I promise you that henceforth on I will be. I know you no longer feel the same way about me that you once did. Believe it or not I’ve accepted that. I would like to be your friend though if you still want to be.
“There’s never been a time Lana that you haven’t been my friend. Would you sit down and talk to me please?”
“Yeah sure” I said sitting on the end of the work bench Dominick had been sitting on when I came in the gym. He sat down beside me making sure he doesn’t touch me in anyway. He stares up at me and held his hand up as if he is going to touch me then he changes his mind. Instead, he said.
“Your hair is beautiful. I have always loved it. When I was on the fairy world and the tree people would be beating me, I would picture your hair and face that's what kept me going.” I was at a loss not knowing what to say so I sat there and let him talk.
“I lied to you when I told you I never loved you. I did love you. I loved everything about you. I knew you would come back for me that’s, what kept me going as long as I did. When I look at you now you take my breath away, I still want you, I want to touch you and kiss you and make love to you or my body does. But my brain, on the other hand, wants the opposite. It’s like I’m at war with myself.”
“Dominick have you ever thought maybe you didn’t love me. The feelings we had for one another was because of the circumstances, we always seemed to find ourselves in. Think about it. First off, we’re alone together with the pressure of saving my family and going up against Lucifer. I was in a low place at the time, and you had to be strong. If you think about it, a story like ours goes back as long as there have been people. We never had the chance to explore what we may have had. We never even got to know each other. Then you came here I ran off and ended up on the fairy realm and once again; you came to my rescue. I was in trouble, and our connection was still there from the months prior. Maybe your feelings are more understandable than you think. You are still psychically attracted to me because of what we have been through together, but maybe you were never in love with me, you just thought you were. Like I thought I was with you.”
“How long have you been thinking about this?” Dominick asked with the smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Well, as you know, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands and have been stuck at the house for a few weeks now, so thinking is about all I do.
“What do you feel for me Lana, please be honest?”
Calming down I tried to think if I should tell him the truth, then I decided that I would be honest with him but at the same time I’m going to have to lie to him it’s the best thing for the both of us and I’m ready to let him go and move on with my life and I know he’s not going to be playing a part in my life other than being a friend and I think that’s the role he should have played from the beginning.
“You know I’ve always thought of you as my Greek God”. I smiled when I see his face turn red. “I look at you, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man more beautiful than you are. I’m not going to lie to you; I still care about you. However, I’m ready to move on with my life Dominick, and I would love for us to be able to be friends but I’m not in love with you and I don’t think I ever really was”.
“Do you think it’s possible for us to be friends?”
“I know it’s possible. I’ve grown up a lot in the past few months, and I swear to you; I'll never try to be anything more to you other than your friend.”
“I’d like us to friends.” He said
“Good then as of today we start over. The past is behind us.”
“That sounds good I’m glad we finally sat down together and worked everything out.”
Laughing I said “you know something I am too. I feel like a huge weight, has been lifted. Maybe this has worked out the way it was meant to.” We sat and talked for a while longer before I told him I was going to go read my new book.
As I left Dominick, I thought back about the night on the fairy realm when I faced Prince Osier, and he had told me I would never get what I wanted. I now knew what he had been talking about. He took Dominick’s love away from me. There is no way to reverse what he had done and finding him would be impossible.
There is no reason for me to tell Dominick or anyone else, for that matter. Dominick is alive, and that’s what’s important. I can deal with being his friend. It’s going to be hard. I still have deep feelings for him, but he will never know it. I will make sure of that. What I had said to him was true I was ready to move on with my life. This is my new beginning.
With my book and blanket in hand, I stopped by the kitchen picked up an apple and a juice and went out the kitchen door and started up the hill to my dogwood tree.
CHAPTER 61
Once my blanket is spread out, I lie down and stare up at the beautiful dogwood tree. It stays in bloom year around. I watch as the wind carries the white and pink pedals’ everywhere. My blanket is covered in them. Picking up a hand full I blow on them and watch as they scatter from my hand mixing in with the other blooms the wind is blowing around. It almost appears like it is snowing.
I open my book and start to read. I read for a while then put the book down and watch the tree and the blooms again. I love this spot. If I sat up, I can see the house below me, and if I look straight out I can see the whole city. I believe the part I love most is even though I can see down on the city and observe everything for miles on end. No one can see me upon the hill or the dogwood tree. It is like my own secret spot. The only other person I have ever shared this spot with is Case. He knows if he starts trying to find me and can’t I’ll always be here. Watching the blooms as the wind carries them away.
I pick my book back up and begin reading again. I read another about half an hour when I hear a voice shouting, from below “I thought this would be where I’d find you.” Throwing my book down, I jump to my feet and see Case coming up the hill. Without thought I take off running toward him. Lucky for me he's strong because my body collided with his, but he caught me, and we didn’t go rolling down the hill. I threw my arms around his neck hugging him, loving the feel of his body. Tears falling down my face I kiss his lips with everything I have in me. His body stiffened for a moment before he started kissing me back. I deepened the kiss unable to get close enough to him. His hands run up and down my back.
Pulling away from him, I kiss his cheek and hug him again before taking him by the hand and leading him to the dogwood tree and my blanket. I set down on the blanket, pulling him down with me.
“I’m so happy you are back; I've missed you. I’m so sorry Case about everything.”
“I’m sorry too; I know you left because of me. I searched for you for a while, but I knew if you didn’t want to be found you wouldn’t be. I had no right to treat you the way I did. I know you only had feelings for me because of what your farther did to us. It’s not your fault you don’t love me. I’m glad Dominick’s not dead I know you saved him; I hope you both will be happy. I just hope we can still be friends.”
“Hello? It was you; I just kissed right?
He laughed a little “yeah sorry I guess I got a little carried away. You have to remember my feelings are real.”
“What are you talking about? Have you fought so many demons you’ve lost your mind you didn’t get carried away; I was the one kissing you.”
“Lana you don’t have to worry about my feelings; I'm a grown man; I can handle it.�
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“I’m not with Dominick! Case I’ve missed you more than I thought was possible to miss anyone. I started to come back a lot of times, but then would chicken out afraid you would hate me and not want to see me.”
“What do you mean you’re not with Dominick?”
“I mean Dominick and I are not a couple!”
“I thought you loved him?”
“I think the bond Harris had on me kept my mind so mixed up it didn’t know what it wanted. After he lifted the bond, and it had been gone a few weeks I started seeing things more clearly. Before I could come home, I met Saurian the fairy woman who asked for my help in rescuing all the fairy women from slavery. She is the one that told me Dominick was alive. I’m sure you know the story without me having to tell you. I know Harris told you everything on one of his visits to see how you guys were doing, by the way, how is it going down there?”
